Portable mount for gymnastic pole

ABSTRACT

A gymnastic amusement device comprising an elongated fiberglas pole having an elastomeric socket at its lower end. The elastomeric socket is supported at one end by resilient means such as springs or elastomeric materials and is supported at the other end for universal pivotal motion whereby the resilient means permits the pole and socket to tilt slightly when the pole itself is flexed.

United States Patent Boggild Dec. 2, 1975 l54| PORTABLE MOUNT FORGYMNASTIC 3.246.893 4/1966 Bnggild c1 ;1|....1.. 272/60 A POLE 3,351.30?ll/l967 Michel ct 111 248/358 A 1480.274 ll/l969 Buggiltl et ul....m272/60 A [76l Inventor: Robert Boggild, Graham Home Place Road, SouthPittsburg Tenn. primary E'mmmer RiChard Aplcy 37380 AssistantExaminer-Joseph R. Tuylur [22] Filed: Feb. 7 1975 Attorney Agent, orFirmW00d, Herron & Evans |2l| Appl. N01: 547,821 57] ABSTRACT Agymnastic amusement device comprising an elonl52l U.S. Cl. 272/60 A;248/358 A gated fiberglas pole having an elastnmcric socket at its l5l]lnt. Cl.- A63B 9/00 lower end. The elastomeric socket is supported it!one [58} Field of Search 272/60 A; 248/350, 358 A, end by resilientmeans such as springs or ClZtStOtllCftC 248/358 AA materials and issupported at the other end for universal pivotal motion whereby theresilient means permits [56] References Cited the pole and socket totilt slightly when the pole itself UNITED STATES PATENTS is flexed2949198 8/1960 Speelman 272/60 A 10 Claims 7 Drawing Figures U.S. PatentDec. 2, 1975 3,923,302

PORTABLE MOUNT FOR GYMNASTIC POLE This invention relates to a gymnasticamusement device and more particularly the invention is directed toimprovements in the device disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 3,246,893 and3,480,274.

The patents referred to above disclose, as a gymnastic amusement device,a flexible elongated fiberglas pole which is mounted at its lower end ina specially designed socket. The socket in turn is preferablypermanently mounted in a concrete foundation so as to maintain thesocket in a vertical attitude. The resilience of the pole coupled withthe manner in which it is mounted in its socket permits the pole to beflexed from a vertical attitude through at least 45 and preferablythrough 90. This capability enables a person grasping the pole near itsupper end to perform many different types of gymnastic gyrations as theperson swings back and forth on the pole or through a series ofacrobatic movements all the way around the pole.

The permanent concrete mount for the pole is satisfactory insofar as theutilization of the pole is concerned. There are some disadvantages toits permanency. For example, forming a permanent mount indoors in a gymfloor, presents the problem of boring through multiple layers of wood,concrete and the like. Further in getting the best utilization of gymfloor space it may be desirable to be able to move the pole from placeto place. Permanent outdoor mounts also present a problem ofmischievious children filling the socket hole with sand and gravelunless elaborate locking covers are used.

In any event, to make the device more universally useful it has been anobjective of the invention to provide a portable mount for the pole. InUS. Pat. No. 3,246,893, a somewhat portable mount is disclosed andconsists of a conical base which supports the mounting socket and asingle central auger adapted to be screwed into the ground. This mount,while useful for short periods of time has at least two disadvantages.First, the single central auger is too easily loosened through activeuse of the device. Second, the raising of the socket above ground leveladds to the strain on the pole when it is flexed and thus tends toreduce the life of the pole.

The portable mount of the present invention provides a secure supportfor the pole over an indefinite period of use of the polev The mount ofthe present invention also permits a slight tilting of the polesupporting socket in any direction around the 360 of the mount, thatslight tilting tending to alleviate the added strain which is incurredin a pole whose socket is above floor level.

Another objective of the invention has been to pro' vide alternativemeans for anchoring the mount to the supporting surface whether it bethe ground out of doors or a floor such as a gymnasium floor.

These and other objectives of the invention will become more readilyapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of one form of the porta ble mount of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view through the center of the mount,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top plan view partly in section showing themanner in which the elements of the mount are interconnected;

FIGS. 4, S and 6 are perspective views similar to FIG. 1 showing analternative securing means: and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative support for thesocket.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a flexible pole 10 is shown supported in aportable mount 11. The mount includes a conical body 12 to which sixhorizontal legs 13 are rigidly secured. The legs are approximately 50inches in length and each of them is loaded at its extreme end by a 50pound bag 14 containing sand, water or other medium.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the body 12 is generally conical and has alarge diameter ground engaging base 20 and a small diameter opening 21at its upper end. The body 12 supports a cylindrical socket 2.2 whichslidably receives a pole mounting shell 23 preferably of the typedisclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,480,274. The shell 23 carries a pair ofspaced upper and lower resilient. preferably elastomeric, bushings 24and 25 which se cure the lower end of the pole in the shell and permitthe pole to flex within the shell thereby reducing the strain on thepole during its use.

The socket 22 is slidably mounted with respect to the body 12. The body12 preferably has an elastomeric cushion or sleeve 26 at its upper endwhich is engage able by the upper end portion of the socket 22 duringthe operation of the pole. The fit between the socket and the cushion 26should be sloppy enough to cnabie the socket to tilt with respect to thebody during the op eration of the pole. The socket, at its lower end. issup ported around its circumference by resilient dex ices 28 whichconnect the socket to the body. The resilient devices may, for example,be twelve radially oriented springs connected at their inner ends to thesocket and at their outer ends to the body. in the preferred form of theinvention, however, the resilient devices are formed by a length ofaircraft shock cord which inten connects the socket and body asillustrated in FIG. 3. Aircraft shock cord is an elastic cord having aplurality of elastic strands encased in a braided cover and has beenconventionally used as trampoline supports and the like.

To secure the elastomeric cord to the socket and body, the socket andbody are provided with eye-bolts 29 and 30 at positions spaced 30 apartaround the socket and body respectively. The eyebolts of the socket arespaced 15 from the eyebolts in the body The cord is simply looped inserpentine fashion be tween the socket eye-bolts and the body eye-boltswith the free ends of the cord being tied together as at 3|. Each of theloops should also be tied as at 32 to prev eat the cord from shifting.

The chord should be secured tightly enough to take up all slack but notso tight as to stretch the elastomeric material for that would tend toage it more rapidly than desirable. The elastomeric material should beresilient enough to elongate l00% when subjected to a 200 pound load.With the foregoing relationship, the elastomeric material will bestressed slightly when a person climbs onto the pole with the pole beingin the vertical attitude. so that the person gets a firm feel due to thestressing of the elastomeric material. When the pole is unloaded thesocket 22 should project above opening 21 a sufficient distance topermit the socket, when the pole is fully loaded, to slide downwardlywithout the top of the socket passing down beyond opening 12.

The operation of the invention is has been described in the earlierpatents referred to above with the exception that with the elastomericmount and the tilting capability of the socket, the socket will tilt inthe direction of the application of pressure by the gymnast on the polewhile the gymnast flexes the pole through 4590. Those few degrees oftilting in any direction around the circumference of the mount tend torelieve the strain on the pole which would occur if the socket weremounted in a vertical position as has been contemplated in the earlierpatents.

An alternative form of mount is illustrated in FIG. 4. There the mountis the same as that of FIG. 1 except that the ends of the legs 13 aresecured to the ground by small augers 35 to the legs and screwed intothe ground.

Another form of mount is illustrated in FIG. 5. In FIG. a rigid skirt 38of an outside diameter of approximately five feet is secured to the body12. A water filled toroid 39 is laid on the outer peripheral portion ofthe skirt 38 to provide the anchor against the tilting of the mount. Thewater filled toroid eliminates the tripping hazard of the legs and alsoprovides a cushion against falling from the pole.

Still another mount is illustrated in FIG. 6. There three hold-downsockets 40 are mounted on a gym floor. The mount is connected to thehold-down sockets by a toggle clamp and strap 41 connected between thehold-down sockets and pins 42 projecting from the upper portion of thebody 12. A turnbuckle, of course, could be substituted for the toggleclamps.

An alternative to the socket support described above is illustrated inFIG. 7. There a body 50 is secured in any of the embodiments of FIGS. 1,4, 5 and 6 to the supporting surface. The body 50 has a conical internalsurface 51 which provides a receptacle 52 receiving a central pivot 53mounted on the lower end of a socket 54. The upper end of the socket issecured to the body by resilient means such as the elastomeric cord 55described in connection with FIG. 3.

The pole as mounted in FIG. 7 has an action similar to that of theearlier embodiments except that the bottom of the pole remains fixed onthe pivot point and the upper portion of the pole is capable of tiltingin any direction to an extent permitted by the elastomeric member 55.Again the tilting capability reduces the strain on the pole as it isflexed during use.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A mount and flexible gymnastic pole combination comprising a bodyhaving a surface engaging base and an upper opening,

removable means for securing said base against tipping with respect tothe surface which it engages,

a socket disposed within said body,

resilient means securing one end of said socket to said body, the otherend of said socket being universally pivotable with respect to said bodywhereby said socket, when stressed can tilt with respect to said body,

and a flexible pole mounted in said socket and being supported at itslower end by spaced upper and lower elastomeric bushings which permitsaid pole to flex within said socket.

2. A combination as in claim 1 in which,

the lower end of said socket is secured to said mount by said resilientmeans,

said socket being free to move downwardly when a force is applied tosaid pole,

the upper end of said socket projecting through said upper opening insaid body and being pivotable and vertically slidable with respect tosaid opening.

3. A combination as in claim 1 in which said resilient means comprisesan elastomeric cord looped in serpentine fashion around the periphery ofsaid body and socket respectively.

4. A combination as in claim 3 in which said cord is stressed justsufficiently to take out its slack but without significantly stressingthe elastomer.

5. A combination as in claim 1 in which said securing means comprises aplurality of elongated legs extending radially from said base and meansfor holding the free ends of said legs against said surfaces.

6. A combination as in claim 5 in which said holding means comprisesweights at the ends of said legs.

7. A combination as in claim 5 in which said holding means comprises aground-engaging auger secured to the free end of said leg.

8. A combination as in claim 1 in which said securing means comprises askirt projecting radially from said base and a heavy toroid removablymounted on the peripheral edge of said skirt.

9. A combination as in claim 1 in which said securing means comprisesmeans attached to said base for securing said base to hold-down socketsfixedly mounted in said surface.

10. A combination as in claim 1 further comprising a central receptaclein the lower portion of said body, said socket pivotally engaging saidreceptacle at the lower end of said socket,

said resilient means securing the upper end of said socket to said body.

1. A mount and flexible gymnastic pole combination comprising a bodyhaving a surface engaging base and an upper opening, removable means forsecuring said base against tipping with respect to the surface which itengages, a socket disposed within said body, resilient means securingone end of said socket to said body, the other end of said socket beinguniversally pivotable with respect to said body whereby said socket,when stressed can tilt with respect to said body, and a flexible polemounted in said socket and being supported at its lower end by spacedupper and lower elastomeric bushings which permit said pole to flexwithin said socket.
 2. A combination as in claim 1 in which, the lowerend of said socket is secured to said mount by said resilient means,said socket being free to move downwardly when a force is applied tosaid pole, the upper end of said socket projecting through said upperopening in said body and being pivotable and vertically slidable withrespect to said opening.
 3. A combination as in claim 1 in which saidresilient means comprises an elastomeric cord looped in serpentinefashion around the periphery of said body and socket respectively.
 4. Acombination as in claim 3 in which said cord is stressed justsufficiently to take out its slack but without significantly stressingthe elastomer.
 5. A combination as in claim 1 in which said securingmeans comprises a plurality of elongated legs extending radially fromsaid base and means for holding the free ends of said legs against saidsurfaces.
 6. A combination as in claim 5 in which said holding meanscomprises weights at the ends of said legs.
 7. A combination as in claim5 in which said holding meanS comprises a ground-engaging auger securedto the free end of said leg.
 8. A combination as in claim 1 in whichsaid securing means comprises a skirt projecting radially from said baseand a heavy toroid removably mounted on the peripheral edge of saidskirt.
 9. A combination as in claim 1 in which said securing meanscomprises means attached to said base for securing said base tohold-down sockets fixedly mounted in said surface.
 10. A combination asin claim 1 further comprising a central receptacle in the lower portionof said body, said socket pivotally engaging said receptacle at thelower end of said socket, said resilient means securing the upper end ofsaid socket to said body.